A children’s brass band from Bratton has won a prestigious Classic FM Award, which recognises efforts to bring music into the lives of young people.
Bratton Brass Roots, a band established last year to promote the local brass band tradition among children, won the Best Music Learning Initiative category at the Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards.
Lydia Grace Hills, who leads Brass Roots, learned of the win during Classic FM’s Breakfast Show with Dan Walker last month.
Lydia said, “We were so proud to be shortlisted, so to win is just incredible. We’re a tiny little initiative in rural Wiltshire, so this will keep us going for the next few years.”
The judges said of the group, “We were literally blown away by the energy and enthusiasm of this initiative, making music in the heart of Wiltshire.”
The group will now receive £3,000 to spend on musical instruments and equipment.
“We’ve got 15 new beginners starting, and we didn’t quite have enough musical instruments for them,” said Lydia. “So it’s amazing that we can now buy instruments for them.”
Meeting weekly at the Bratton Church Institute, the band has already achieved several milestones, including hosting a summer school and participating in ‘Proms in the Playground,’ a national initiative that brings performances to local primary schools to inspire children to learn brass instruments.
Philip Noyce, Classic FM’s managing editor, said, “We are thrilled to honour Lydia with the Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Award. What she has achieved, and continues to achieve, is truly inspiring, and she fully deserves recognition for it.”
